Card filing device



Sept. 3, 1935. HUNTER 2,U13,13

CARD FILING DEVICE Filed Sept. 4, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet l V flvwewz/iofawdliifluder Sept. 3, 1935. DE. HUNTER CARD FILING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Sept. 4, 1954 WP M w W M04441, ,0;

Wit/Less Sept. 3, 1935. DEHUNTER 2,013,153

CARD FILING DEVICE Filed Sept. 4, 1934 Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 232 MA, *1 WW@w Sept. 3; 1935. D, E, HUNTER 2,013,153

CARD FILING DEVICE Filed Sept. 4, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Sept.3, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARD FILING DEVICE ApplicationSeptember 4, 1934, Serial No. 742,533

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in card filing devices, and moreparticularly to a card container or tray for the filing of cards onwhich entries are made by tabulating machines, and the principal objectof the invention is to provide a container which will properly preservethe cards so that they can be fed to and through the machines withoutdifficulty.

Tabulating machines may differ somewhat in detail, but the generalscheme is to make the entries by punching holes in form cards on whichare printed groups of figures arranged to register with banks ofkey-operated punching dies of the tabulating mechanism. In making theentries a stack of cards is placed in a suitable magazine and fed to themachine one by one from the bottom of the stack through a narrowentrance slot. It is therefore quite essential that the cards beperfectly flat and their edges regular, since the slightest unevennesswill prevent the cards from being properly fed into the machine.

It is therefore desirable that the cards be stored in the tray underconsiderably more compression than is required in the ordinary cardfiling system, and hence the invention pertains to a pressure plate inthe form of a sliding carriage especially designed and mounted formaintaining the cards under compression in the tray or drawer.

As disclosed, the carriage or pressure plate assembly forms a part of acard-holding tray designed to fit within sliding drawers of a specialtype of filing cabinet, thus permitting individual trays to be morereadily carried to and from the tabulating machine. However, the sameequipment can be applied directly to drawers or any other type of cardcontainer.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a card trayequipped with the pressure plate;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the pressure plate assembly removedfrom the tray and the cover plate removed to show the mechanism on therear side thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view in cross section through the tray as takenon line 33 of Figure 1, showing the pressure plate in rear elevation;

Figures 4 and 5 are views in vertical section taken on line 4-'l ofFigure 1 showing the released and locked positions, respectively, of thepressure plate;

Figure 6 is a detail view in vertical section taken on line 6-6 ofFigure 3;

Figure '7 is a. similar view taken on line 1--'! of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a view in vertical section through the pressure plate in itsmodified form;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the pawl and ratchet mechanism used inthe modified form of pressure plate; and

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the automatic pressure lock lever.

The tray I is an open rectangular container, preferably constructed ofsheet metal and having a capacity of several hundred cards 2 arranged tostand on edge in a single row from front to rear. The cards 2 arepreferably somewhat longer than the standard cards supplied for ordinaryfiling systems, being, say, 7 by 3% inches, and hence the interior ofthe tray is dimensioned to the size of the cards and the number to beaccommodated.

Except for certain details of construction to be presently described,there is nothing novel in the construction of the tray. It willtherefore be described briefly. The front end wall 3 of the tray ispreferably of a tapered double wall construction (as shown in Figures 4and 5) with an intermediate space for the mounting of a verticallyextensible U-shaped handle 4, which normally drops into retractedposition with its slightly ofiset cross bar 4 flush with the top edge ofthe drawer. This handle is slidably supported in a fixed bracket 5mounted between the front wall sections, and in extended position isused for lifting the tray from the cabinet and also for carrying thetray in a depending vertical position to and from the machine. The rearwall of the tray consists of a short wall section 6 extending upwardlyfrom its bottom and across the top is a cross bar 6 leaving arectangular opening of about two inches between and locatedsubstantially midway the height of the drawer. for the removal of thefollower or pressure plate assembly, as will hereinafter appear.

The side walls l, i are vertical, although the upper half sections areoffset outwardly by the shaping of the walls with narrow transverseoffsets l' l a short distance below the horizontal center line of thedrawer (Figure 3). Extending downwardly from the top edges of the sidewalls are angular wall segments 8, 8 with their upper edges securedbetween U-shaped bends I along the upper edges of the main side wallsections and thence offset inwardly with their lower vertical portionssubstantially in the plane of the lower sections of the side walls butspaced therefrom to form inwardly facing slots opening into narrowvertical guide or trackways extending the full length on the inside ofthe tray. In the upper portion of the trackways and just above Thepurpose of this opening is primarily the entrance slot thereto aredownwardly facing rack members 9, 9 consisting of U-shaped strips weldedin place, just above the lower edge of the wall segments 8, and having amultiplicity of uniformly spaced square holes punched in the transverseweb 9 to form the rack bars. These inwardly facing trackways house themembers which support the pressure plate assembly or carriage, the mainmember thereof being a vertical pressure plate iii extendingtransversely of the tray and supported at its ends for sliding movementin said trackways.

A horizontal shaft H is journalled on the back of the platesubstantially midway between its top and bottom edges and extendingbeyond the side edges thereof. At each end of the shaft is fixed apinion l2 meshing with a corresponding rack 9, while immediately insideof the pinions are plate supporting shoes i3, i3 sliding on the lowertrack flanges l l The shaft l l is journalled in bearing sleeves Mmounted in the bearing brackets 15, E5, the same being extensions of therearwardly bent end flanges ii] of the plate so that the shaft is spaceda short distance from the rear face, substantially midway of its height,say, of an inch therefrom. Moreover, these bearing brackets haveprojecting ears or lugs I5, I5 extending rearwardly beyond the bearingsleeves it, i l, with their top edges forming upwardly facing stopshoulders as shown in Figure 2, which coact with lugs on the shoes l3,presently to be identified.

. The shoes 53, i3, consisting of metal plates having outwardlyprojecting flanges i3, I3 along their top and bottom edges,respectively, are fixed at one end to the outer ends of the bearingsleeves It, i l and hence lie outside of the end flanges Id of the plateand substantially flush against the pinions in fact, the upper and lowerflanges w !3 of the shoes extend outwardly, transversing the plane ofthe pinions. These shoes 13 extend longitudinally of the trackways andin a forward direction, that is, toward the front end of the tray withtheir lower flanges [3 in sliding contact with the bottom track surfacesl' while the pinions 12 mesh with the racks 9 above. Thus in themovement of the pressure plate assembly the shaft l I rotates in onedirection or the other by reason of the intermeshing of the racks andpinions, while the plate slides on the lower flanges E3 of the shoes l3,it being noted that while the diameter of the pinions is about the sameas the width of the shoes, the latter' are offset slightly below theaxis of the shaft so that it is necessary to cut away the adjacentportions of the upper and lower shoe flanges to permit the pinions tomesh with the rack and at the same time clear the bottom flanges of theshoes, as shown in Figure 2.

At this point it may be explained that the plate assembly is insertedinto the tray from the rear end and hence the purpose of the opening inthe rear wall. The trackways are likewise open at their rear ends sothat by inserting the shoes end foremost into the trackways and thenmeshing the pinions with the rack, the plate can be slid forward intothe tray, although care has to be exercised in entering the pinions intoengagement with the racks since a displacement of even one tooth wouldthrow the plate into an oblique position and cause faulty action. Itshould be also noted in this connection that the plate it is higher thanthe opening in the rear wall of the tray, so that provision is made forturning or tilting the plate into a horizontal position during theassembling operation. Normally, the plate is firmly held in a verticalposition, that is, at right angles to the shoes l3, l3, which are heldin horizontal positions within the trackways, this relationship beingmaintained by hearing contact between the lugs ifi iEi on the flangedside edges of the plate and a pair of inwardly bent lugs l3, i3 at therear ends of the shoes it. These lugs are located adjacent the upperedges of the shoes and lie above the lugs l5, l5 with their lower edgesbearing crosswise against the latter, thus holding the plate againstturning or tilting forwardly in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewedin Figure 2. But in addition to these pairs of coacting lugs i3 andwhich can only prevent the rotation of the plate in one direction, iereis mounted on the left-hand end flange Et of the plate it (Figure 2) anddirectly above the shaft 3 i, a plate 66 having a finger-like projectionii: curving downwardly beyond the shaft and terminating in a stopshoulder spaced above and opposite the shoulder of the lug the spacebetween them forming a notch in which the lug 53 of the adjacent shoe isnormally locked. But this plate it? can be readily bent by using apointed instrument, such as a screw driver, until the finger-like lugI-3' is pressed inwardly beyond the end of the lug W on the shoe, asshown in dotted lines in Figure 2, thereby releasing the same so thatthe entire plate can be tilted rearwardly into a horizontal position,thus permitting it to pass through the opening in the rear wall of thetray during the assembly opera tion, and when the plate has cleared theopening it is swung back to its vertical position and locked in place bybending the lug i6 back into its normal plane. This operation, however,is only performed in the initial assembling operation or when makingrepairs.

This completes the mounting of the plate assembly in the tray, and thefollowing is a dis-- cussion of the mechanism associated with thepressure plate for manually operating the in the act of inserting andremoving the cards from the tray. In so far as the plate serves as anadjustable support or backing for support ing varying members of cardsupright and more or less closely stacked against the front end of thetray, it performs much the same function as the slidable follower platewith which the ordinary card index drawers trays are equipped. But inaddition it has other functions of vital importance in the filing ofcards used in tabulating machines. In the first plase, it is essentialthat the plate exert more than ordinary pressure upon the cards not onlyto keep them uniformly smooth and protect their edges against scuffingand roughness, but to hold the cards in the tray while it is beingcarried to and from the tabulating machine. Hence the plate must bepositive in its movement and action so that once the plate is brought upagainst the cards with sufficient force to hold the cards in a state ofcompression, it will be locked in place without danger of subsequentslippage or release or" the pressure. This manifestly necessitates apositive locking mechanism and at'the same time: manually operativemeans for releasing the plate assembly when cards are to be removed orinserted.

The operating mechanism is located at one end of the plate or at the riht, as shown in ures 2 and 3, although it is normally concealed beneatha removable cover plate hereafter to be described. Mounted on the shaftll inwardly from its right-hand end and fixed thereto is a ratchet WheelIT, with the radial faces of its teeth facing a counter-clockwisedirection (Fig. ures 4 and 5). On the back of the plate, just inwardlybeyond the ratchet wheel ll, is welded a vertical L-shaped bracket I8having a transverse web l8 supporting one end of a horizontal pinbearing 59, the other end of said pin being mounted in the adjacent endflange it of the plate. The transverse flange Id of this bracket i3 ispreferably extended downwardly in the form of a foot which seats in thegroove formed by the U-shaped flange Ni along the bottom of the plateand is likewise extended upwardly in a curved finger-like projection illpassing up wardly and over the shaft but not actually bearing againstit, the purpose of this finger being to restrain the shaft fromspringing axially in case the force applied through the ratchet i5 issufficient to overcome its natural stiffness, while additionalreinforcement is given to the bracket by seating its lower end in thegroove at the base of the plate.

Now the chief purpose of the pin i9 is to provide a fixed journalbearing for a pawl member coacting with the ratchet wheel ill on theshaft II. This pawl member is a combination in one piece of the pawlproper 20 and a; lever 2i having a finger-piece located at the upperrighthand corner of the plate it, as shown in. Figure 2. The pawl member2E! is preferably a onepiece stamping of sheet metal and includes also abearing at the base of the pawl proper consisting of a U-shaped memberwith spaced ears 20 26 with apertures through which the pin it extends.The pawl proper 2& has the form of a wide blade extending verticallyupward from the central portion of the bearing with its tip end bent ata slight angle toapproach the toothed periphery of the ratchettangentially. Moreover, the pawl is preferably constructed of a doublethickness of sheet metal by welding another blade-like segment 26 to theinner face of the main portion of the pawl with the outer ends of eachbeing beveled to the angle of the ratchet teeth so that two adjacentteeth contact with the pawl when the ratchet is engaged thereby, thusinsuring a more positive locking engagement between the pawl and theratchet teeth.

The pawl is thus mounted for a limited rocking movement on the pin i9,and in order to hold the pawl in alignment with the ratchet wheel andprevent it from sliding endwise on the pin, a stop member 22 is weldedto the back of the plate Hi just above the pin and to the right of thepawl. This stop member is simply an l,- shaped strip of metal having avertical lug 212 at its inner end projecting outwardly from the platejust beyond the right-hand ear 2t of the pawl bearing, so that thelatter is confined between said lug and the bracket 98.

The lever completes the one-piece pawl member 26 and consists of avertical bar 2% extending edgewise between the shaft H and the back ofthe plate ill, and having at its extremity an enlarged rectangular platebent transversely thereto to form the finger-piece 2 l spaced from butparallel with the upper right-hand corner of the plate.

Immediately behind the finger-piece 2t and in vertical alignmenttherewith is a leaf spring 23 formed of a strip of spring steel and bentinto a general 8-shape, but more specifically into an elongated W whenobserved edgewise (Figure The upper portion of the spring thus has theform of a rearwardly facing V with its upper free end bearing againstthe back of the fingerpiece Ri its apex against the plate beingsubstantially midway of its height, and continuing downwardly the lowerbranch of the V-portion bears against the pin it, having a half roundedbend 23 to provide a fulcrum on said pin l9, whereupon the lowerextremity of the spring extends downwardly and inwardly bearing at itsend against the lower edge of the plate It. Perhaps the shaping of thespring may be simplified by merely explaining that its purpose is toexert pressure outwardly against the end of the lever ill and thus holdthe pawl in toothed engagement with the ratchet wheel which in turnholds the shaft l I against rotation in a clockwise direction, that is,the direction it would turn in sliding the plate rearwardly or away fromthe contents of the tray. Manifestly, however, the pawlengaged ratchetdoes not prevent the shaft from rotating when the plate is shiftedforwardly, inasmuch as the pawl would simply click over the ratchetteeth when the pawl is released unless the operator presses forwardly onthe fingerpiece M while sliding the plate forwardly at the same time, asshown in Figure l.

And finally, to complete the operating mechanism of the plate assembly,provision is made for preventing the accidental release of the pawlwhile the loaded tray is being carried in a vertical position by thehandle l. Should this occur, it is apparent that the plate would dropand allow the cards to fall out. To avoid such an occurrence a gravitylocking member 2&3 is mounted on the end flange Hi of the plate It justbehind the finger-piece Zi and consisting of a short bar loosely pivotedon a transverse pin 24 When the tray is in its normal horizontalposition the bar hangs vertically and is inoperative, as shown in fulllines in Figure 5, but when the tray is in vertical position rear enddownwardly, the bar 2 swings freely into a position above andtransversely of the finger piece, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5,thus automatically locking the same so that it cannot be released whilethe tray is in vertical position.

As heretofore stated, the exposed moving parts of the pressure plateoperating mechanism, with the exception of the finger-piece 2 l of thepawl release lever, are enclosed by a removable cover plate 25 extendingvertically from a point just above the shaft 9 l downwardly to thebottom edge of the plate and horizontally from the left end of the plateto and slightly beyond the bracket i8 for supporting the inner end ofthe pin bearing I9. Cross sectionally, as shown in Figure 8, the coverplate extends rearwardly at right angles to the back of the plate alongits upper edge and thence downwardly and inwardly around the shaft l Iterminating in a vertical panel fitting into the groove at the bottom ofthe plate. The removable mounting of this cover plate is accomplished byfirst inserting its lower flanged edge into said groove formed by thewide U-shaped flange 99'" along the bottom of the plate it and thenspringing its upper edge beneath the slightly upturned bottom edge of alocking plate 25 welded to the back of the plate it! and extending thelength of the upper edge of the cover plate. Thus with the cover platein place it not only protects the operator against contact with theparts carried on the back of the pressure plate, but the rounded portionprovides a convenient hand-hold for shifting the pressure plate andparticularly for drawing it firmly against the cards.

From the foregoing description of the pressure plate assembly itsoperation in applying pressure against the cards will be readilyunderstood from the following:

Assuming that the tray has its full complement of cards and it isdesired to place them under pressure, the operator grasps the plate withone hand and pulls it forwardly with sufficient physical force tocompress the cards and hold them firmly in place. During this forwardmovement of the plate the pinions on the ends of the shaft meshing withthe racks along the trackways cause the shaft l l to rotate in aclockwise direction in Figures 4 and 5, so that the pawl, merely clicksover the ratchet wheel. However, when the plate reaches its extremeforward position the pawl locks the ratchet and prevents the shaft fromturning in opposite direction and hence the plate is positively anchoredin place. Only by pressing on the release lever is it possible to shiftthe plate rearwardly and thus relieve the pressure on the cards so thatthey can be removed. Similarly by applying a continuous pressure on therelease lever 2f the plate can. slide freely in either direction, thussuggesting the desirability of pressing the finger piece while drawingthe plate up against the cards and thus avoid the clicking sound thatwould otherwise be objectionable.

However, with a slight modification in the corn struction of the pawland ratchet mechanism, the pawl can be normally held out of engagementwith the ratchet except when the plate is in actual contact with thecards, thus permitting the plate to shift freely in the tray exceptwhenactually brought into contact with the cards. This modified design orarrangement is disclosed in Figures 3 to 10, and the essentialdifference in construction is the addition of a card actuated pressurelock lever mounted on the bearing pin i9 and located between the spring28 and the plate l0. As shown in Figure 10 this lever has a U-shapedbearing portion Zi providing pair of parallel ears 27 2'i with alignedapertures through which the pin it passes, and extending upwardly is acontact finger ii'i having its lower portion bent to project forwardlytoward the plate ill at an angle of 45 and an upper or top portion bentrearwardly at an angle of 90 thus providing a knuckle which projectsthrough a vertical slot 29 cut in the plate near its upper right-handcorner. The spring 28 is of practically the same shape as the spring 23previously described, except that the upper end portion, that is, theportion above the fulcrum point is somewhat shorter because the springnow bears at the apex of the upper V- portion against the lock lever 2?just below the base of the finger Zl instead of against the back of theplate, although the tip end of the spring contacts at the same point onthe back of the re lease lever 2 i.

Thus it will be seen that by exerting pressure against the lock leverfrom the front side of the plate 58, as actually occurs when the plateis drawn up against the cards 2, the said lever is swung rearwardlyuntil the knuckle of the finger 2'. is flush with the plate, and by thismovement the spring 28 is flexed at its fulcrum. on the bearing pin it!forcing its upper V-portion rearwardly and simultaneously swinging therelease lever ti rearwardly to its dotted line position as shown inFigure 8. Now this movement of the release lever Zil swings the pawlinto engage dent with the ratchet wheel il with the result that when thelock lever is pressed inwardly (and this is done automatically when theplate is drawn up against the cards), the pawl and release lever areoperative in exactly the same way as they would operate with the locklever omitted or as previously described, that is to say, the releaselever 2! can be manipulated in the usual way to disengage the pawl andthus permit the plate to be shifted rearwardly. And also, when thepressure of the cards against the trip lever is relieved, as when therelease lever is manually operated to allow the plate to be shiftedrearwardly, the said lock lever 21 resumes its normal position under thetension of the spring 2% by a slight forward rocking movement. Now thisrocking movement is transmitted to the release lever 2i through thecoaction of a lug 2'3' projecting upwardly and outwardly from the topedge of the left-hand ear El of the bearing portion Iiiof the locklever, this lug overlying the front edge of the vertical arm 2| of therelease lever as clearly shown in Figure 9.

Hence it will be seen that the essential difference between the twoarrangements is the fact that in the latter form the pawl is out ofengagement with the ratchet when the plate is out of contact with thecards, permitting the entire plate assembly to slide freely in eitherdirection and it is only when the pressure of the cards presses theloclr lever inwardly that the plate is locked against rearward movement.The plate, however can be moved forwardly to still further increase thepressure on the cards, but with the pawl clicking over the ratchetteeth, unless the fingcr-piece of the release lever is manually pressedforward at the same time. Moreover, the release lever El is operativeindependently of the lock lever 2'1, but only when the latter is pressedagainst the cards, since the primary function of the lock lever is tohold the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet wheel at all times,except when the plate is actually pressed against the cards.

Of the two arrangements, the first form is perhaps the more positive inthat the pawl and ratchet are always in engagement except when thrownout or tripped by the pressure of the finger against the release lever.In the modified arrangement the pawl and ratchet are disengaged exceptwhen the plate is in actual contact with the cards, and while thiseliminates the objectionable clicking of the pawl over the ratchet(unless the operator remembers to press the release lever), there areconditions under which the plate might not be pressed against the cardsquite firmly enough to press the lock lever inwardly to its fullextent,with the result that the pawl might slip over the ratchet teeth andpermit the plate to slide rearwardly by accident, which would be quiteinconvenient should the operator be carrying the tray in verticalposition when this occurred. However, the probability of this occurringis quite remote, so that it is largely a matter of choice whether theautomatic feature is to be supplied or omitted, depending on the wishesof the user.

The device may be otherwise modified without departing from the spiritof the invention, and therefore it is to be understood that I do notintend to be confined to the precise disclosure herein except is so faras set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a card-holding device, the combination with a container, of apressure plate extending crosswise of said container and slidablymounted therein, a transverse shaft journalled on said plate havingpinions mounted at its ends and a ratchet wheel intermediate its ends,said pinions meshing with racks extending lengthwise of said container,a pawl mounted on said plate for movement into and out of engagementwith said ratchet wheel, tension means acting to yieldingly hold saidpawl in ratchet engaging position, a lever operative manually to releasesaid pawl from said ratchet wheel, and a locking member loosely pivotedon said plate behind said lever and adapted to move by gravity intoposition to lock said lever against movement when the container iscarried in vertical position.

2. In a card-holding device, the combination with a container, of apressure plate extending crosswise of said container and mounted thereonfor sliding movement lengthwise thereof, a transverse shaft journalledon said plate and having pinions mounted at its ends and a ratchet wheelintermediate its ends, said container having racks extending lengthwisethereof and adapted to be engaged by said pinions, a pawl mounted onsaid plate for rocking movement into and out of engagement with saidratchet wheel, a release lever connected with said pawl, a spring actingon saidlever to resist its movement in a direction to disengage saidpawl and ratchet wheel, and means for automatically locking said releaselever when said container is carried in vertical position.

3. In a card-holding device, the combination with a tray having inwardlyfacing trackways extending lengthwise of the sides thereof, of ashiftable carriage extending transversely of said tray and comprising apressure plate slidably mounted at its ends in said trackways, atransverse shaft journalled on the rear face of said plate and havingpinions fixed to its ends beyond the side edges of said plate, saidtrackways including downwardly facing racks meshing with said pinions, aratchet wheel fixed on said shaft, a pawl mounted on said plate adjacentsaid ratchet wheel for rocking motion into and out of engagement withthe teeth thereof, a pawl release lever integral with said pawl andhaving a finger-piece located adjacent the upper edge of said plate andspaced therefrom, and a leaf spring mounted between said plate and saidlever and bearing at vertically spaced points on said plate and lever tonormally hold said pawl in ratchet engaging position thereby lockingsaid carriage against movement in one direction.

4. In a card-holding device, the combination with a tray having inwardlyfacing trackways extending the length of its side walls, of a shiftablecarriage extending transversely of said tray and comprising an uprightplate supported by said trackways for sliding movement lengthwise ofsaid tray, a transverse shaft journalled on said plate substantiallymidway of its height, pinions fixed to the ends of said shaft, racksincluded in said trackways and meshing wtih said pinions whereby saidshaft is rotated in the sliding movement of said carriage, pawl andratchet mechanism carried by said plate and shaft and including tensionmeans for normally holding the pawl in engagement with said ratchet,whereby said plate is locked against movement in a rearward direction, arelease lever connected with said pawl and having a finger-piece spacedfrom the plate, and a locking member consisting of a bar loosely pivotedon said plate adjacent said finger-piece and adapted to swing by gravityinto a position in the path of movement of said finger-piece toautomatically lock the same against movement when said tray is supportedin a vertical position.

5. In a card-holding device, the combination with a container, of apressure plate extending transversely of said container and slidablysupported therein, a transverse shaft journalled on said plate, pinionsfixed to the ends of said shaft and engaging racks extending lengthwiseof said container, whereby said shaft is rotated in the sliding movementof said plate, a ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft, a pawl carried bysaid plate and shiftable into and out of engagement with said ratchetwheel, and a lever operatively connected with said pawl and extendingforwardly of said plate to be actuated by the pressure of said cardsthereagainst to shift said pawl into engagement with said ratchet wheel.

6. In a card-holding device, the combination with a container, of apressure plate extending transversely of said container and slidablysupported therein, a transverse shaft journalled on said plate, pinionsfixed to the ends of said shaft and engaging racks extending lengthwiseof said container, whereby said shaft is rotated in the sliding movementof said plate, a ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft, a pawl journalled onsaid plate engageable with said ratchet wheel, a spring acting on saidpawl to normally hold the same out of ratchet-engaging position, and alever operatively connected with said pawl and having a portionprojecting through an aperture in said pressure plate, whereby saidlever is actuated by the pressure of said cards to automaticaL- ly shiftsaid pawl into engagement with said ratchet wheel.

7. In a card-holding device, the combination with a tray having inwardlyfacing trackways exending the length of its side walls, of a shiftablecarriage extending transversely of said tray and comprising an uprightplate supported by said trackways for sliding movement lengthwise ofsaid tray, a transverse shaft journalled in said plate substantiallymidway of its height, pinions fixed to the ends of said shaft, racksincluded in said trackways and meshing with said pinions whereby saidshaft is rotated in the sliding movement of said carriage, a ratchetwheel fixed to said shaft, a pawl mounted on said plate to rock into andout of engagement with said ratchet wheel, a release lever integral withsaid pawl, a spring acting on said release lever to oppose its movementto release said pawl, and a lock lever pivotally mounted on said plateand having a finger projecting forwardly of the front face thereof, saidlock lever acting through said spring to shift said pawl into engagementwith the ratchet when said plate is shifted into contact with the cards.

8. In a card-holding device, the combination with a container havingtrackways extending lengthwise of its side walls and a transverseopening in one of its end walls, of a pressure plate comprising ahorizontal shaft on which said plate is journalled and having shoes ateach end thereof shiftably mounted on said trackways, and interlockingmembers on one of said shoes and said plate for normally retaining saidplate in vertical position on said shaft and capable of beingdisconnected to permit said plate to be tilted toward a horizontalposition for passage through said opening in the end of said container.

9. In a card-holding device, the combination with a container in whichthe cards are stacked in upright position, of a pressure plate assemblyslidably mounted in said container and comprising a normally verticalplate, a horizontal shaft on which said plate is journalled and havingradially disposed shoes mounted at each end thereof for sliding movementin trackways ex tending lengthwise of the side Walls of said container,the rear end Wall thereof having a transverse opening exposing the endsof said trackways, and means for effecting the ready removal andreplacement of said pressure plate assembly in said container includingcontacting lugs on one of said shoes and the adjacent end of said plateand acting to lock the latter from turning on said shaft in onedirection, and a complementary lug on said plate normally engaging saidlug on the shoe for holding the plate against turning in the oppositedirection, said last mentioned lug being movable out of the path of saidlug on the shoe to permit said plate to be tilted into horizontalposition during its passage through the opening on the end Wall of thecontainer.

DAVID E. HUNTER.

